--- description: What section headings do you have on your resume? Let me guess: “Experience,” “Education,” “Additional Information,” and maybe a “Summary” section. That about covers it,... title: The Resume Section That Matters More Than You'd Think image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55cd17c0fc3c824c/6986a4403617600eb490df38/resume-job-applications.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Workplace & Careers](/tag/workplace-careers/) ## Workplace & Careers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Resume Section That Matters More Than You'd Think by [The Muse](/author/the-muse/) ## The Muse Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2014 11:00 AM CUT  Resume ResumeMark Stahl—Getty Images by [The Muse](/author/the-muse/) ## The Muse Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2014 11:00 AM CUT  What section headings do you have on [your resume](https://www.themuse.com/advice/12-tiny-changes-that-make-your-resume-easy-for-recruiters-to-skim?ref=search "undefined")? Let me guess: “Experience,” “Education,” “Additional Information,” and maybe a “Summary” section. That about covers it, right? Well, if your resume doesn’t have a “Skills” section, you’re seriously missing out on an opportunity to showcase, you know, your skills. In fact, this is the most straightforward way for you to show to a hiring manager what you can accomplish in the position on day one. The trick is, of course, figuring out what to actually include to illustrate what you bring to the table. While there’s no real go-to list of skills for you to pick and choose from (unfortunately), you can get pretty close by following these three steps. ## Step 1: Review the Job Description The most obvious place to look for the skills that the hiring manager will find exciting and eye-catching is the job description itself. Usually, for any given position, you’ll find minimum qualifications and preferred qualifications. For example, for an [app developer position](https://www.themuse.com/jobs/?job%5Fcategory=Engineering "undefined"), you might find “programming experience in Java, Objective-C, or C++” listed under minimum qualifications and “deep technical knowledge of mobile application development (either Android or iOS)” under preferred qualifications. Mine the job description, find all the low-hanging fruit, and, of course, decide for yourself if you feel comfortable listing those skills on your resume. (Obviously, lying won’t get you very far.) Side note: While you’ll sometimes find [soft skills](https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-nonboring-way-to-show-off-your-soft-skills-in-your-job-search?ref=autocomplete "undefined"), like organizational or communication skills, listed as qualifications, it’s important to point out that “Skills” sections are usually reserved for hard skills. ## Step 2: Do Some Digging on LinkedIn Next, pop the job title of the position you’re applying to into LinkedIn and have a look at some other professionals who are doing what you want to be doing. Scroll down to their “Skills” sections and look for trends in what’s listed. They might be different from what’s listed on the job description, but if you see them over and over, they’re clearly good to have in the field. Using the same example, for an app developer you might find “data structures,” “graphic design,” or “XML.” ## Step 3: Don’t Limit Yourself to Skills Now that you have a pretty good list of skills going for your target position, consider expanding beyond that. In fact, you don’t have to limit yourself to just a “Skills” section; you can create a “Skills and Projects” section that describes freelance gigs you’ve done or a “Skills and Interests” section that describes some of your relevant professional interests. If it makes sense, you might even want to pop job-related coursework into this section. Lastly, don’t forget to include skills that you have that are always good to list regardless of the position, like foreign languages or technical certifications. All in all, you should have two to three lines of skills, ideally broken up into sensible subsections, like “Technical,” “Courses,” and “Languages,” to keep it all tidy. If you have relevant work experience for the positions you’re applying to, place your “Skills” section at the end of your resume. On the other hand, if you’re looking to break into a new field, it makes more sense for you to place this section closer to the top—maybe even before your “Experience” section. Whatever you decide to go with, your resume will definitely benefit from having a designated place for a hiring manager see what skills you bring to the table quickly. _This post is in partnership with_ [_The Muse_](https://www.themuse.com/ "undefined")_. The_ [_article_](https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think "undefined") _above was originally published on The Muse_ _More from The Muse:_ * [10 Companies That Are Hiring Like Crazy in September](https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-companies-that-are-hiring-like-crazy-in-september "undefined") * [The Cool New Way to Tell Your Story in Your Job Application](https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-cool-new-way-to-tell-your-story-in-your-job-application "undefined") * [The 35 Best Personal Websites We’ve Ever Seen](https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-35-best-personal-websites-weve-ever-seen "undefined") ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images _Read next:_ [_5 Words to Avoid Using to Describe Yourself in an Interview_](http://time.com/3825835/5-words-avoid-describe-yourself/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-mobile/id328218429 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/"},"headline":"The Resume Section That Matters More Than You'd Think","datePublished":"2014-09-24T11:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:44.346Z","description":"What section headings do you have on your resume? Let me guess: “Experience,” “Education,” “Additional Information,” and maybe a “Summary” section. That about covers it,...","url":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/","keywords":["Workplace & Careers","Jobs","Employment","resume"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55cd17c0fc3c824c/6986a4403617600eb490df38/resume-job-applications.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Muse","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-muse/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55cd17c0fc3c824c/6986a4403617600eb490df38/resume-job-applications.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Resume","caption":"Resume","creditText":"Mark Stahl—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/workplace-careers/","name":"Workplace & Careers"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/","name":"The Resume Section That Matters More Than You'd Think"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why Now Might Be Time for a Career Change","description":"Donna Rosato, Senior Writer for Money, tells Leigh Gallagher employers are looking to hire more full-time employees.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jEDMoRWd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-30T23:54:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jEDMoRWd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/","duration":"PT2M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3399446/the-resume-section-that-matters-more-than-youd-think/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```